Electric controller



No. 609,092. Patented Aug. "3, I898. J. u. FOBREB.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

(Application filed July 11, 1898.)

(No Model.)

Fly-4'.

RI PETERS c0. PHUTO-LITNO.,WASHINUTON n c Referring to the drawings,Figure 1 is a JOSEPH D. FORRER, OF JOHNSTOW N,

PENNSYLVANIA, nssreivon TO THE STEEL MOTOR COMPANY, OF OHIO.

ELECTRIC CONTROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Lettersiratent No. 609,092, dated August16, 1898.

Application filed m 11, 1898.

To all whom it. may concern: 1

Be it known that I, J OSEPH D. FORRER, of Johnstown, in the county ofOambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Electric Control-. lers, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My inventionhas special reference to elec tric controllers in whichthere are two switches mounted upon concentric shafts, each shaft havingan operating-lever secured to it. One of these switches may be theregular controlling-switch of the controller and the other may be areversing-switch or a switch having the combined functions of reversingthe motors or cutting out either motor.

In a controller of this type it is extremely desirable that the operatorshall not remove both handles unless the said switch is at a position ofopen circuit. The reason that this restriction is important is that theoperator is not always a very high-grade man and in any case should haveevery safeguard pres-' entto aid him in avoiding errors. If he cannotremove the handles for operating the switches, there will be no dangerof'his leaving the car with the switches in operative position.

With this end in view my invention consists in mounting the twooperating-levers upon their respective shafts in such a manner that oneof the levers is prevented by a portion of the controller-casing frombeing removed except at a predetermined position and in so arranging andconstructing the parts that the said lever cannot be removed when theshaft of the second lever is in a predetermined position. By these meansboth levers cannot be removed except when both switches are at the offposition. I have also provided means whereby levers can only be removedsimultaneously, and then only when both sides are at the off position.

My invention further consists in the specific construction, arrangement,and combination of parts, which I will now proceed to describe.

transverse section of a part of a controller,

off or open-circuit position.

Serialll'o. 685,631, (No model.)

showing my improvement added thereto. Figs. 2 andB are detached planviewsof the two operatingdevers. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a portion ofthe top of the controller-casing.

A represents that portion of the controllercasing which is necessary toa proper understanding of my device.

,B and 0 represent two operating-shafts, the former of which I will callthe controlshaft, while the'latter I will call a reversing-shaft.

D and E are the two operating levers or handles, which I shall call,respectively, the control-handle and the reversing-handle. Thecontrol-handle D is mounted upon the shaft Bin any suitable manner andhas a downwardly-projecting hook or lug cl, which in operation isbeneath the annular projection a, the latter, as clearly shown, beingformedof a portion of the controller-casing.

a is a recess formed in the annular projection a, this recess being ofsufficient size to permit of the passage'through it of thelug at whenthe handle D is at a position at which the recess and lug will register.

An annular projection d similar to the proj ection a of thecontroller-casing is formed on the upper part of the hub ofcontrol-handle D. This projection 01, however, has no recess in it, butis continuous throughout its periphery.

The reverse-handle E is formed with a downwardly-projecting hook or luge,which in service, fits under the annular projection 02 in the same wayas the lugd fits under the projection a. o is a pin which is secured inthe reversing-shaft O, and d is a slot in the control-handle d throughwhich this pin 0 may pass when the said pin and slot register with eachother. 7

The recess a is located so as to register with the hook (I when thehandle D is at the The slot (1 is arranged to register with the head ofpin 0 when both the control-handle D and the reverse-handleE are at theoff position. It will thus be seen that the reverse-handle E can neverbe removed from the reverse-shaft C unless the control-handle D is alsoremoved from the control-shaft 13, because of the fact that the hook efits under the projection 61.

Furthermore,it will be observed that the handle cannot be removed untilit is at the oif position, because of the engagement between projection04 and hook d, and even when the handle B is at the off position'itcannot be removed unless reverse-handle E is also at the off position,for unless it is the head of the pin a is engaging the top of thecontrolhandle.

I do not desire to be limited to the particular details which I haveshown and described, as my invention is broader than these details, andthey might be considerably varied without departing outside the scope ofthe appended claims. I would particularly point out that while I havedescribed my improved mechanism in conjunction with operatinglevers fora controlswitch and a reversingswitch it may readily be used for otherkinds of concentrically-arranged switches. I also desire to point outthat I have provided a highly useful interlocking mechanism even thoughthe projection d and lug e be omitted, for in this case, while thereverse-handle could be removed at any position, the control-handlecannot be removed except when both switches are at the off position.

Having thus described my invention, what I 1 I claim, and desire toprotect by Letters Patcut, is-

1. The combination of a pair of concentric shafts, operating-levers foreach shaft, means for preventing the removal of one of said leversexcept when it is at a predetermined position, and independent means forpreventin g the said lever from being removed except when the othershaft is at a predetermined position.

2. The combination of a pair of concentric shafts, an operating-leverfor each shaft, a fixed annular projection having a recessed portion, alug on one lever engaging said projection and adapted to register at oneposition with said recessed portion, a slot in the same lever, and astop on the other shaft adapted to register with said slot at onerelative position of the said shaft and the said lever.

3. A pair of concentric shafts, operating- .levers for the same, meansfor preventing the levers from beingdissimultaneously removed from theirshafts, and means for preventing them from being simultaneously removedexcept when at a predetermined position.

4. A pair of concentric shafts, operatinglevers for the same, mechanismpermitting independent rotation of said levers but preventingindependent vertical movement of the same, and a lock for preventingsimultaneous vertical movement except at a predetermined position.

5. The combination of an annular projection having a recessed portion,the operatinglever having a lug engaging said projection and adapted atone position to register with said recessed portion, and a second leverhaving a lug engaging a projection on the firstmentioned lever.

6. The combination of an annular projection having a recessed portion, apair of shafts concentric with said annular projection, anoperating-lever for each shaft, a lug on one lever engaging saidprojection and adapted at one position to register with the recessedportionthereof, an annular projection on the same lever, and a lug ontheother lever engaging said last-mentioned projection.

7. The combination of an annular projection having a recessed portion, apair of shafts concentric with said projection, an operatinglever foreach shaft, a lug on one lever engaging said annular projection andadapted at one position to register with the recessed portion thereof, asimilar projection and a slot 011 the same lever, a lug on the otherlever engaging said last-mentioned projection, and a pin on one shaftadapted to register with said slot when at a predetermined position.

8. The combination of the annular projection at having recess a, shaftB, operatinglever D therefor having lug d, annular projection d and slotd shaft 0 having pin a, and operating-lever E therefor having lug e,substantially as,and for the purpose,set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

J. D. FORRER.

Witnesses:

RICHARD EYRE, ROBERT M. EVANS.

